Syrian refugees, September 2015. Image from Wikimedia Commons.
My advice to all the pro-ISIL forces in the United States:
- Keep bombing Iraq and Syria. This is how ISIL came into being in the first place. It makes sense that you would keep doing that.
- Refuse to work with the Russians and Iranians. They have the best chance of defeating ISIL.
- Avoid humanitarian aid at all costs.
- Encourage Israel to keep bombing Hezbollah forces in Syria. Hezbollah is fighting ISIL and Jebhat al Nusra (al Qaeda).
- Block entry to Syrian refugees. This will really hurt the Arabs as a people and put tremendous pressure on Europe. Whatever you do, don’t help your allies or the people who hate ISIL so much that they are risking death of their children to escape them. You can drive those people back into ISIL’s hands.
- Keep all the anti-Islam rhetoric at a shrill scream. It confirms to the world that the U.S. is really at war with Islam. That is why foreigners join ISIL. If you, for even a second, hint that you won’t be a bigot, that would really hurt their supply of foreign fighters.
- Keep flooding the oil markets to drive down oil prices. Iran, Russia, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia are desperately reliant on oil sales for revenue. If you can break those four states, most of the resistance to ISIL will evaporate.
- Keep encouraging Turkey to shoot down Russian fighter jets. WWIII is a great way to give ISIL more power.
- For sure elect Trump or Cruz to be president. That will really help number 6.
- Track Muslims, make them wear armbands, and refuse their entry, reentry. In fact why not intern them like you did with the Japanese and the Native Americans? I think again that would really help number 6. Remember number 6 is very important.
- Overreact with anti-Islamic rhetoric and laws the next time that ISIL attacks. They are probably planning to attack as many times as they can before November 2016. Keep reacting exactly as they want; after all, they believe that they are creating the Apocalypse. A lot of you have been working for the very same goal.
Listen to Thorne Dreyer’s Dec. 6 (left, below) and Dec. 11, 2015 (right) Rag Radio interviews with Roy Casagranda about Syria, Iraq, and how U.S. foreign policy “set the table” for ISIL, here and here:
[Roy Casagranda is Associate Professor of Government at Austin Community College and a doctoral candidate at the University of Texas at Austin. He serves as an analyst on Middle East Political Affairs for the Austin ABC affiliate, KVUE, and has written about Arab and U.S. politics and history for several publications in Iran.]
